Boro cites homeowner after Main St. blaze
Code enforcer says rooms in house were rented out illegally
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

SOUTH RIVER - The owner of a house that was destroyed in a fire last week is facing charges that she allowed nine tenants to live in the single-family home.

The alleged illegal housing conditions were discovered during an investigation of the April 30 blaze at 146 Main St., which is owned by Beatriz Perez. No one was injured during the fire, the cause of which is still being investigated.

Initial media reports on the fire indicated that the home was being occupied by 10 families. That, according to borough Code Enforcement Officer Steven Behar, was far from accurate. He said nine occupants lived in the house.

Behar stood before the council Monday night to set the record straight, saying he did not provide the inaccurate information to the media outlets.

"No one ever told the newspaper that 10 families were in this house," Behar said, noting that a daily newspaper criticized the town for allowing such a condition, even though it did not.

"We were lambasted in an editorial," Behar said.

Behar said the incorrect report of 10 families living in the home has "spread like wildfire."

He noted that he did issue a summons for overcrowding on the day of the blaze because, he said, the homeowner put up walls after receiving a certificate of occupancy and then rented out the rooms.

Behar said his office was criticized as if it had not taken action.

"I am asking for your help in writing a rebuttal to these accusations," Behar told the council.

Council President David Sliker said that the governing body has no objection to that, and commended Behar for being proactive on such code issues in the borough. He noted that code enforcement had found an illegal day care center and 15 homes in violation of occupancy laws since Behar was appointed as code enforcement officer late last year.

"Your department has done a phenomenal job," Sliker said. "We appreciate the detailed reports you submit."

"Illegal housing is not only a safety issue, it is a drain on all municipal services," Sliker added.

Behar told the Sentinel that Perez has a municipal court date scheduled for May 22, when she may be given a $2,000 fine.

He said inaccurate reports on the number of occupants in Perez's home have had an adverse effect on the code enforcement department.

"It is so detrimental to all of our efforts," Behar said.

In a press release issued late last week, Mayor Robert Szegeti said the fire "could have been a frightful tragedy" had the occupants been inside the dwelling at the time of the fire.

"I think that our code enforcement people have been doing good," Szegeti told the Sentinel, "but I think that we need to get stricter."

The mayor said it is unfortunate that municipalities sometimes do not learn of dangerous living conditions until events such as this fire occur. He explained the difficulty in finding illegal tenancy.

"These people have rights," Szegeti said, "but it is very difficult for us to get into somebody's home to verify how many people are living there, because they are entitled to privacy."

Szegeti said in the press release that the homeowner in this case placed her tenants at great risk.

"Unfortunately, this illegal occupancy might very well be symptomatic of other illegal housing elsewhere in the borough," Szegeti said. "We plan to intensify our inspection program to rid the borough of this sort of thing as a public safety measure for those families and for neighboring families."